Introduction To

Research
Res 1 – Thesis Seminar
Introduction to Research: General Concepts

• What is research?
• Characteristics of the Scientific Method
• Characteristics of Scientific Knowledge
• General Approaches to Research
• Types of Research in Business Administration
 Research

• Research is an organized inquiry

carried out to provide information for
solving problems.
• It is the cornerstone of every science.
 What is Research Process?

RE SEARCH PROCESS

Again Find Step – by – Step

Phases
 Formal
Researc
h Informa
l
 Research
• Is a process in looking at solution of a given problem which can
be used as basis for :
• Product/service formulation
• Product/service enhancement or improvements
• But before you can come up with a Product or Service, it should
be back up with empirical (observed) data which requires the
process of research
 What is Research?

• Research is the systematic process of

collecting and analyzing information to
increase our understanding of the world in
general and of the phenomenon under study
in particular.
 Why conduct research?
• Students, professors, researchers, research centers, government, practitioners,
newspaper people, TV networks, market research firms, schools, hospitals, social
service, political parties, consulting firms, HR departments, public interest
organizations, insurance, law firms conduct research as part of their jobs to be:
• better informed,
• less biased decisions
• in contrast to guessing,
• hunches, intuition,
• other personal experience.
 Therefore

• RESEARCH concerns with WHAT (facts and

conclusions) and HOW (scientific; critical
components).

• Research is a iterative process that eventually seeks to

explain or solve an identified problem
 Characteristics of the Scientific Method
• Tentative (constant review)
• Empirically verifiable (researchable)
• Ethically neutral (what harm or risk involved to respondents,
confidentiality and privacy?)
• Shared and made public
 Purpose of Research

•Explore
•Describe
•Explain
 Types of Research
1. According to Purpose
• Fundamental/Pure/Basic
• Lab research
• Applied
• Evaluation
• Action
• Social impact
 Basic
• Starting point for the search of new knowledge.
• Provides a foundation for knowledge and foundations that are generalizable to many policy areas,
problems or area of study
• Source of the tools – methods, theories, ideas
• Research is driven by a researcher’s curiosity or interest in a scientific question. The main motivation is to
expand man's knowledge, not to create or invent something. There is no obvious commercial value to the
discoveries that result from basic research.
• For example, basic business investigations probe for answers to questions such as:
• How to start up a business?
• What are the types of business organization?
• How do organizations make profit?
 Applied Research
• Refers to scientific study and research that seeks to solve practical
problems. Applied research is used to find solutions to everyday
problems, cure illness, and develop innovative technologies, rather than
to acquire knowledge for knowledge's sake.
• For example, applied researchers may investigate ways to:
• Improve the organization’s production
• Treat or solve a problem in an organization
• Improve the employees' performance
• application of the methods, ideas, theories from basic
research
• Want to apply and tailored knowledge to
• address a specific practical issue; towards development of more efficient
technologies or particular way of doing things.
• Address issue of application
• It asks “does it work”
 Action
• advances the aims of basic and applied research to the point of
utilization.
• concerned with the production of results for immediate application
or utilization.
• it improves practices and methods and generates technologies and
innovations for application to specific technological situations.
• the emphasis is here and now
 Correlational Research
• Refers to the systematic investigation or statistical study of relationships among
two or more variables, without necessarily determining cause and effect.
• It Seeks to establish a relation/association/correlation between two or more
variables that do not readily lend themselves to experimental manipulation.
• For example, to test the hypothesis: “Trainings and Seminars can improve the
performance of your employees” there are 2 ways of conducting research
• Experimental
• Survey
 According to Methods
• Historical
• The purpose is to collect, verify, synthesize evidence to establish
facts that defend or refute your hypothesis. It uses primary sources,
secondary sources, and lots of qualitative data sources such as logs,
diaries, official records, reports, etc. The limitation is that the sources
must be both authentic and reliable.
 Historical Research

• Historical research is research

involving analysis of events that
occurred in the remote or recent
past
• Application
• Historical research can show patterns that occurred in the past and over time which can help us to see where we
came from and what kinds of solutions we have used in the past.
• Understanding this can add perspective on how we examine current events and educational practices.
• The steps involved in the conduct of historical research
• Identification of the research topic and formulation of the research problem or question.
• Data collection or literature review
• Evaluation of materials
• Data synthesis
• Report preparation or preparation of thenarrative exposition
 Descriptive Research
• Refers to research that provides an accurate portrayal of
characteristics of a particular individual, situation, or group.
Descriptive research, also known as statistical research.
• These studies are a means of discovering new meaning,
describing what exists, determining the frequency with which
something occurs, and categorizing information.
• Descriptive
• It attempts to describe and explain conditions of the present by using many
subjects and questionnaires to fully describe a phenomenon. Survey research
design / survey methodology is one of the most popular for thesis/dissertation
• In short descriptive research deals with everything that can be counted and
studied, which has an impact of the lives of the people it deals with.
• For example:
• Finding the most frequent problem that affects the productivity of the organization
 Case and Field Research Design

• Also called ethnographic research, it uses direct

observation to give a complete snapshot of a
case that is being studied. It is useful when not
much is known about a phenomenon. Uses few
subjects.
 Developmental or Time Series Research
Design

• Data are collected at certain points in

time going forward. There is an
emphasis on time patterns and
longitudinal growth or change.
 Quasi Experimental Research Design

• This research design approximates the

experimental design but does not have a
control group. There is more error possible
in the results.
 Experimental Research

• Is an objective, systematic, controlled

investigation for the purpose of predicting
and controlling phenomena and examining
probability and causality among selected
variables.
• Experimental Research Design
• This design is most appropriate in controlled settings such as
laboratories. The design assumes random assignment of subjects and
random assignment to groups (E and C). It attempts to explore cause
and affect relationships where causes can be manipulated to produce
different kinds of effects. Because of the requirement of random
assignment, this design can be difficult to execute in the real world
(non laboratory) setting.
• The simplest experimental design includes two variables
and two groups of participants.
• The two variables (Independent versus Dependent variables).
• The IV is the predictor variable whereas the DV is the outcome variable.
• Researchers manipulate and control the IV to study it's effect on the DV.
• The two groups of participants (Control versus Experimental group).
• Before beginning the experiment, the researcher (randomly) assigns
his/her sample to two different groups: the control group and the
experimental (treatment group or clinical group).
• The control group receives no manipulation of the IV (no treatment),
whereas the experimental group receives the manipulation of the IV
 Causal Comparative or Ex Post Facto
Research Design
• This research design attempts to explore cause
and affect relationships where causes already
exist and cannot be manipulated. It uses what
already exists and looks backward to explain
why.
 Correlational or Prospective Research
Design
• Correlational or Prospective Research Design - It
attempts to explore relationships to make
predictions. It uses one set of subjects with two
or more variables for each.
 Exploratory Research
• Is a type of research conducted for a problem that has not been clearly defined. Exploratory
research helps determine the best research design, data collection method and selection of
subjects
• The results of exploratory research are not usually useful for decision-making by
themselves, but they can provide significant insight into a given situation
• Exploratory research can be quite informal, relying on secondary research such as reviewing
available literature and/or data, or qualitative approaches such as informal discussions
with consumers, employees, management or competitors, and more formal approaches
through in-depth interviews, focus groups, projective methods, case studies or pilot studies.
 Phenomenological Research

• Is an inductive, descriptive research

approach developed from
phenomenological philosophy; its aim is to
describe an experience as it is actually lived
by the person
 Phenomenology
• It is concerned with the study of experience from the perspective of the
individual,
• ‘bracketing’ taken-for-granted assumptions and usual ways of perceiving.
• They are based in a paradigm of personal knowledge and subjectivity, and
emphasize the importance of personal perspective and interpretation.
• As such they are powerful for understanding subjective experience, gaining
insights into people’s motivations and actions, and cutting through the clutter of
taken- for-granted assumptions and conventional wisdom.
 General Approaches to Research
• Qualitative

• Quantitative

• Mixed Method
 General Approaches to Research
• In social sciences and later in other disciplines, the following two research
methods can be applied, depending on the properties of the subject matter
and on the objective of the research.
• Qualitative
• understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern such behavior, involves
analysis of data using words (e.g., from interviews), pictures (e.g., video), or objects (e.g.,
an artifact)
• Quantitative
• involves analysis of numerical data and their relationship
 Qualitative Research
• It is a research dealing with phenomena that are difficult or impossible to quantify
mathematically, such as beliefs, meanings, attributes, and symbols

• Qualitative researchers aim to gather an in- depth understanding of human behavior and
the reasons that govern such behavior. The qualitative method investigates the why and how
of decision making, not just what, where, when.
• Inductive – from fact to theory
• Explore factors that could explain why a given event occurs
• Establish patterns/develop theory for understanding how and why an event occur
Steps in Qualitative Research

Acknowledg Interpret Inform

e Social Self Data Others

Actual Analyze
Perspective Data

Design
Collect Data
Study
 Quantitative Research
• It is generally made using scientific methods, which can include:
• The generation of models, theories and hypotheses
• The development of instruments and methods for measurement
• Experimental control and manipulation of variables
• Collection of empirical data
• Modelling and analysis of data
• Evaluation of results
• Deductive – from theory to fact
• Establish cause-effect relationship
• Relate occurrence of a variable with other variables
• Establish generalizations for prediction and control
Steps in Qualitative Research

Select Interpret Inform

Topic Data Others
Focus
Analyze
Question
Data
s
Design Collect
Study Data
 Mixed Method Approach

•Qualitative + Quantitative